-
THE CULTURE OF HEALTHCARE: LEADERSHIP’S ROLE FROM A TRUSTEE’S PERSPECTIVE
- Franciscan Institute Publications
- Chapter
- Additional Information
63 THE CULTURE OF HEALTHCARE: LEADERSHIP’S ROLE FROM A TRUSTEE’S PERSPECTIVE Esther Anderson, O.S.F. As I prepared for this symposium, I was struck by the fact that I have been involved in the healthcare ministry for almost twenty-five years. My involvement began when I was invited by our congregational leadership in 1975 to serve on the board of our local Franciscan hospital. I was an elementary school principal at the time and I must confess that I was not overly enthusiastic as it meant two afternoons a month away from the school. At a deeper level, from observations from the periphery, I experienced ambivalence as to how one could really be a Franciscan while engaging in the corporate world of healthcare. At times it appeared to be more of a business than a ministry. I agreed to be a board member since we sponsored the institution, and after a few meetings I was impressed by the strong service orientation of the board. I was also surprised by the dedication of the lay board members who expressed a primary commitment to what they termed the “mission of the sisters.” The Past Journey In the 1970s, as Franciscan sponsors, we relied heavily on the presence of the sisters serving in the institutions and on boards to provide a Franciscan spirituality base and to build a culture congruent with our charism. In addition to presence, the culture was primarily developed through articulating a mission statement and telling stories about the founding persons of the Franciscan movement, the foundress of our congregation, and historical figures from the particular institution. Many of us who had been in Catholic healthcare for some time could tell rich and colorful stories about the women and men who shaped the history and culture of our organizations. Symbols, rites, and “the way we do things around here” also helped in developing a strong culture. The 64 ESTHER ANDERSON, O.S.F. sponsors were aware that the most important factor in shaping culture was the style and behavior of its leaders. Therefore, much time and effort was expended in recruiting administrators and trustees who fit the culture and could assist in its institutionalization. The focus of the board in those days was to provide a strong, viable, value-based healthcare institution that would serve the needs of those who were ill in the community. From the core values of our Franciscan tradition, administrators were charged to do this by modeling and seeing to it that people in the facilities—patients, staff and visitors—were treated respectfully as brothers and sisters. One of the board’s greatest challenges was to maintain a viable institution that would provide service to all who came to its door regardless of their ability to pay. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, sponsoring congregations began to form health systems. The purpose of this movement was to create greater effectiveness for carrying out the mission and philosophy of the sponsor, to operate healthcare facilities in a more effective way, and to allow for the movement of resources across facilities. This concept of systems thinking necessitated a deep conversion on the parts of trustees and administrators. While trustees had formerly focused totally on their individual facility and community, they were now bound by the invisible threads of interrelated actions with other facilities within the system. While there were clear advantages to be gained from the larger synergy of a system, it was difficult for institutions that were doing well to share with those that were struggling. The sponsors demonstrated that the healing ministry of Jesus is a dynamic one and not limited to any particular time, form, or structure and that our Franciscan charism in each age is brought to bear on the questions and issues of the times. Time was spent in reflecting on the Franciscan tradition of reaching out to the poor not only in the immediate service area but to poor persons in other areas who might be in greater need. Trustees were encouraged to have a worldview similar to the early Franciscan friars as described in the Sacrum Commercium: “They showed her [Lady Poverty] the whole world . . . and said: ‘This, Lady, is our cloister’” (63). Trustees and leaders in the local facilities were challenged to think systemically [18.189.180.244] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 20:28 GMT) LEADERSHIP’S ROLE FROM TRUSTEE’S PERSPECTIVE 65 and to accept the interdependence that exists between brothers and sisters and...